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COMANCHE -- All members of the Comanche
County Commissioners Court were present on Monday, June 26, to
consider a relatively light agenda.
The matter which received the most
lengthy consideration concerned a contract bid opening for emergency
lintel repairs for the Comanche County Courthouse.
A relatively large chunk of a limestone
lintel above a two story high window frame on the southeast side of
the Courthouse fell to the ground in mid-August 2005. At that time it
was noted that there were several instances of cracked window and
doorway lintels around the courthouse, damage suspected to have
resulted from freeze/thaw cycles in the 60 plus years since the
building was completed.
The west side entrance to the Courthouse
was closed and tape barriers were placed on the porches on the north
and south entryways restricting public access. Fort Worth architect
Karl Komatsu advised the Commissioners that the public was endangered
and that emergency shoring was needed to prevent injury or further
damage to the building. Komatsu’s firm was engaged to further
investigate the stone exterior and to design an emergency shoring
plan.
At 10:00 a.m. County Judge James Arthur
opened two bids. Karl Komatsu was present to advise the Commissioners
on the bidders. He told them that his firm had worked with both
contractors and that either would be capable of doing a good job on
the shoring.
Mid-Continent Restoration of Fort Worth
bid $17,500 and Phoenix One Restoration of Dallas bid $22,300.
Commissioners Bobby Schuman and Garry
Steele asked Komatsu numerous questions regarding the prospects for
obtaining grant funds for the Courthouse restoration and to review
expenditures made to date.
Komatsu told the Commissioners that his
firm and a materials testing firm from Austin would be inspecting the
work to see that it was performed to specifications. He noted that
funds spent on the emergency lintel shoring would qualify as matching
funds under any future state grant for restoration of the Courthouse.
Komatsu’s firm was earlier engaged to
prepare a Master Restoration Plan that can be the basis for a planned
matching funds grant application. The plan is scheduled to be
completed in November.
Garry Steele made a motion to approve the
Mid-Continent bid. Commissioner Chris Biggs provided the second and
the vote to award the contract was unanimous.
Emergency management matters also
received lengthy discussion. Ray Helberg, Emergency Services
Coordinator for Comanche County and for the County’s three
municipalities, DeLeon, Comanche and Gustine, presented the
Commissioners a letter from the City of Gustine which he said
appointed him as that city’s Emergency Services Coordinator and an
agreement to contribute $250 a month toward the expenses incurred by
his office.
Helberg said that an interlocal agreement
needed to be prepared to provide for Emergency Services Management
costs between the County and the three cities. The combined cost of
his office would be allocated among the four entities based on
population.
Garry Steele agreed that such an
agreement was needed and agreed to help in drafting it. County Auditor
Joey Boswell agreed to assist Steele in the matter and to get it
completed in time for the governmental units involved to include the
costs in their budgets for the next fiscal year. It was also discussed
that the Emergency Management Services office would operate in a
similar fashion to the 9-1-1/Central Dispatch office with a governing
board comprised of the three Mayors and the County Judge.
Federal law mandates that cities and
counties create and maintain an emergency management office and
facilities.
Helberg then brought up the subject of
GPS addressing for all 9-1-1 addresses in the County. He noted that
the County was way behind in meeting the GPS (global positioning
satellite) mandate, which was supposed to have been started in 2002
and completed by now.
Helberg said that he could accomplish
some of the work from satellite imaging photographs, but also
estimated that it would take as long as two years to complete the
project. Helberg noted that grant funds are available from the Council
of Governments to defray the costs involved.
Helberg and the Commissioners also
discussed the continuing expense involved in paying an Abilene
consultant to maintain the County’s 9-1-1 address database.
It was agreed that Helberg and Joey
Boswell would look at the contract covering the service and determine
whether it would be possible and advisable for Helberg to take over
the management of that computer database at a monthly savings of
$5-600. Helberg said he could do it, and that most counties were now
maintaining their own 9-1-1 computer files.
Helberg was also directed to work with
the Council of Governments to help Comanche County qualify to receive
the $9,000 annual grant for 9-1-1 GPS addressing.
The Commissioners considered whether the
restricted burn ban needed to be changed to a total outdoor burn ban.
Garry Steele asked Ray Helberg for his opinion. Helberg responded that
weather and moisture conditions were better now, but that the
improvement was likely only temporary since the two week drouth
conditions projection was trending toward critical conditions.
Helberg noted that a 15 acre grass fire
south of Comanche was started Sunday in green grass by a water well
electrical line short. He concluded, “It’s dry and it’s going to get
worse.”
Garry Steele complimented the area fire
chiefs for their work under the restricted burn ban in holding down
fires by restricting burning when unsafe. It was noted that there are
often different conditions in different parts of the county and the
area fire chiefs could better allow for local conditions when making
their decisions regarding whether to permit burning.
Helberg commented that burning trash in
unapproved containers was the largest source of wildfires. When asked
about what constituted an approved container, he replied that burning
in a barrel covered with an expanded metal screen in a cleared area
was approved, but that using cattle panels for a burn container
covering was not approved. Garry Steele added that any trash fire
should be attended until burned down and that a water source was
needed for any fires started by embers.
Judge Arthur stated that if Ray Helberg
came to him requesting an outdoor burning ban that “we’ll have one.”
The Commissioners took no action to
change the current restricted burn ban.
County Clerk Ruby Lesley and attorney Jim
Dudley informed the Commissioners that guidelines for tax abatement
and investment zones had never been adopted and would likely soon be
needed in two new businesses looking to be developed in Comanche
and/or Comanche County. One business prospect mentioned was a motel to
be located in Comanche and the other was an ethanol plant prospect.
Garry Steele said he did not know who
“dropped the ball” but that the guidelines were supposed to have been
previously developed. Ruby Lesley stated that an earlier tax abatement
measure referenced an attached set of guidelines, but that none were
ever filed.
The Commissioners expressed concern that
the absence of the guidelines documentation might harm the County’s
prospects for gaining an ethanol plant. Bobby Schuman expressed his
willingness to take immediate action on a draft set of guidelines that
Dudley distributed to the Commissioners.
Dudley said that he wanted the
Commissioners to have an opportunity to read through the lengthy
document and to make any needed changes in it prior to adopting it. He
said that action at the following Commissioners Court meeting would be
sufficiently timely.
Jacci Stewart, Development Director of
the Comanche Economic Development Council, was present at the meeting
and commented regarding the ethanol plant. She stated that
investigation regarding a site for the plant was moving forward and
expressed optimism regarding the Comanche County prospective sites.
In other business the Commissioners:
• Voted to authorize direct deposit of
paychecks for county employees who wish to be paid in that manner.
Janet Johnston made the request to the Commissioners. County Treasurer
Billy Ruth Rust said that her office could provide that service and
that there would be no additional bank charges involved. The vote to
approve the change was three in favor with Chris Biggs abstaining.
• Voted to allow Justice of the Peace Rex
Plumlee to increase the work hours for Jackie Escobar in his office
from 28 to 32 hours per week. The increase in hours would cause
Escobar to qualify as a full time employee and thus be eligible for
insurance benefits. After discussion regarding which fund would cover
the additional costs involved, Plumlee was directed to get with Joey
Boswell and prepare a budget amendment to be approved at the next
Commissioners meeting.
• Approved an order by District Judge
James Morgan appointing Stephen R. Smith as Community Supervision
Officer for the 220th District Court Community Supervision and
Corrections Department.
• Approved a request by United
Cooperative Services to place a power pole in County Road 4975 right
of way.
• Heard a report from Sheriff Jeff
Lambert regarding the imminent filing of a grant request for an
environmental deputy. Lambert also noted that the County Jail was
nearly full. He said that his office had recently received an inquiry
from the State of Texas regarding placing state prisoners in the
county jail which was declined for the moment because of a full jail.
Lambert also noted that now the jail was showing a small profit for
the current year.
Lambert also requested the hiring of a
part time maintenance worker for the jail noting that his deputies and
jailers don’t have the time for the light maintenance work needed and
that he believed a qualified part time employee would save the County
money. Joey Boswell was directed to work up a budget amendment to hire
the requested part time employee.
Lambert stated that his office was
working in cooperation with Verizon to identify and eliminate unneeded
and unused telephone connections in the Sheriff’s Office and jail. He
added that although the jail was operating in the black, that it had
just about used up its utilities budget and that he would likely need
another $20,000 to complete the fiscal year.
The Commissioners complimented Sheriff
Lambert on working within his budget, which had suffered considerable
trimming during the final budget work in the prior fiscal year.
Garry Steele said this year was a record
in which for the first time the jail had completely subsidized the
County’s obligation to pay for housing its prisoneers. Joey Boswell
commented that although the jail had not previously completely paid
for itself, that it had always made a significant contribution in
reducing jail costs that county taxpayers would otherwise have to
bear.
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